Remember when !!!'s "Me and Giuliani Down by the Schoolyard" single came out and everyone was all, "This is totally amazing, I can't wait for the full-length to come out so I can dance for ten times as long?" That's been my feeling about Out Hud since its six-song LP S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D. came out in 2002. That record was amazing! I mean, it didn't have vocals, but, oh well, you could still shake your ass to it for like half an hour.
Then, last summer, !!!'s Louden Up Now came out, and what sounded promising on the single resembled pre-schoolers handling dance music on the full-length. Well, Let Us Never Speak of It Again, the new album from Out Hud, is now upon us, courtesy of Kranky Records. Unlike its sister act !!!'s release (for those of you that don't know, !!! and Out Hud share many common members), the record delivers.
Since S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D., Out Hud has been mixing hectic No Wave sensibility with dance beats, electronic handclaps and slap bass. But, the big leap between the previous record and Let Us Never Speak of It Again is the added voices of cellist Molly Schnick and multi-instrumentalist Phyllis Forbes.
Surprisingly, for a band that chagrined vocals altogether on its last offering, the lyrics are actually intelligible. This is attributable in large part to the fact that this Brooklyn-by-way-of-Sacramento act doesn't take itself too seriously.
Not to belabor the inevitable !!! comparisons, but you won't find the inane and self-indulgent lines that were the downfall of Louden Up Now on this album. Out Hud has learned from its peer's mistakes by not letting synth player (and vocalist for !!!) Nic Offer touch the lyric notebook. The band isn't here to make a difference, it's here to have fun and make you dance. If the quintet is a little political at the same time, hey, that's fine.
While the lyrics work well, Out Hud unfortunately did not continue with the ingenious song titles of its last album. S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D. track names like "The L Train Is a Swell Train and I Don't Want to Hear You Indies Complain" have been replaced by the more common place "How Long" and "One Life to Leave." This can be forgiven, though, when one actually listens to the tracks. "How Long" may be the best dance track of 2005, and it's only April. Beginning with a hilariously epic cello/drum intro, the song throws you head on into the disco bass, saw-wave synth and delay-drenched vocals that define the album.
Unlike the lyrics, much of the musical aesthetic used by !!! on Louden Up Now (I swear it's the last comparison) arises again on Out Hud's Let Us Never Speak of It Again. Bass lines and synth sounds are even repeated verbatim. Case in point: on "It's For You," the piano line is exactly the same progression used on !!!'s "Theme From Space Island." I understand the creative overlap, but, come on, write a new piano line.
Having said that, "It's For You" is one of the best tracks on the record, vacillating between caustic No Wave percussion and straight-up disco guitar, with some of the prettiest melodies on the album in between. Most of the record's rehashed parts still provide new elements, so ultimately Out Hud can be forgiven for its repetition.
Despite these pedantic criticisms, the new Out Hud is a wonderful dance album. The songs keep you shaking it from "It's For You" through the amusingly titled "Dear Mr. Bush, There Are Over 100 Words For S**t and Only One For Music. F**k You, Out Hud" until the end of the glitch-xylophone of "The Stoked American."
This isn't just typical dance music. It's smart, it's sexy and it's worth throwing these Brooklynites some dollars in exchange for their new record. Oh, but buy it on vinyl -- the hipsters in Out Hud wouldn't have it any other way.
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